Check out these placemats from make:grow:gather. Aren’t they beautiful?

I’ve been thinking about this, and I’m pretty sure that the idea I am about to discuss is the greatest idea since Two-Time Physics.

Socks with pads on the backs. For putting your feet up! Socks with pads! This is great!

Above is a prototype of what it would look like. (Original is here).

I’m thinking of patenting this. Whaddaya think? I would make millions. You see, if you want to put up your feet on a sofa or comfy ottoman, then it’s no problem. But what happens if you want to put it up on a chair? Or a table??!! MADNESS I TELL YOU!

I’m not drunk, I’m just excited. And a little drunk. But this is a great idea!

Howdy, folks! I decided to have a go at editing Yarnival again. It’s been a while! But it was fun. Thanks so much to all those folks who submitted their blog posts. This one has a parental theme, in honour of Mother’s Day. The feature article is Dr. G’s Memory Vest at Through the Loops. Dr. G’s memory is being ruthlessly robbed of him by Alzheimer’s. By leaving a donation, you are supporting The Fisher Center (an Alzheimer’s research center) and being given an absolutely beautiful sweater pattern. Give what you can.

The second feature is from the chemgrrl chronicles. Not necessarily about parenting, but I love science like a motherblather. Which is close. Check out the chemistry behind wool and blocking.

A Friend to Knit With has a post about a handknitted dress knitted by dear old Mom.

Grab a pattern for a Winged Mom Heart Tattoo at anny purls.

Here’s a touching story about a blanket and parental memories at Yarn~Knit~Read~Lit.

Strands Of Me has a pattern from a mom to a daughter.

Kathryn embellished a pair of Fiber Trend clogs to look like Lady Bugs!

Princess Pea is experimenting with minfulness, and is knitting positive emotions into every stitch of her comfort blanket knitted mindfully.

Fricknits wants you to know that Cowl is the new scarf.

med pinner has a beautiful pair of Latvian Mittens on display.

If you’d like to knit like a Scandinavian, try some Two-End Knitting at Pipe Dreams and Purling Plans.

Or you can try some Pansies at mind of winter!

That’s it for this month! Submit your blog post to the next edition of Yarnival! using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the Yarnival! index page or in the archives. For more information about Yarnival!, visit my writeup on the subject. If you want to edit an issue, send me an email! I’m in need of editors right now (which explains why I edited this one), so if you have the time I’d love to hear from you!

What’s that? You want to see dogs in dog sweaters? I am nothing if not a servant to my readers.

I blogged earlier about the knitting pattern based on the cute adipose characters in the first episode of the latest Doctor Who series. At the time, I was surprised that the pattern author was not considering this to be copyright infringement. Sure, the pattern was free and there does not appear to be any advertising on the site that would have resulted in a profit from this pattern, but it still meant that the BBC could have lost profits if they ever decided to a) sell an adipose doll, or b) offer a knitting pattern of their own. Well, it turns out that just like their name implies, the knitted adiposes are getting under the BBC’s skin. The BBC has requested that the pattern author take down the free pattern.

I think they are completely within their rights to make this request. They came up with it, so they have the right to profit from it. These things are marketing gold, so I can imagine they will sell an adipose doll at some point. Even if they don’t start making them right away, it would make sense to nip it in the bud early so they don’t have to deal with it later. All of us are still allowed to knit whatever we want. We just have to come up with our own pattern.

One possible reason the BBC might have freaked out is that this pattern was being used to sell copies on eBay. If I were the BBC, I would think it was within my rights to get to the source as well as shutting down the eBay sellers. I think the reason the crafting community is getting angry is because of an Us vs. Them mentality. If someone was offering a pattern ripping off these cute little guys, would you still side with the pattern author?

And now I will climb down from my soap box for just long enough to send you to a sewing pattern. Speaking of making our own adipose, here’s a place where you can sew one!

I suddenly really want to knit Kaari. Isn’t this a lovely version? I didn’t like the pockets and the bagginess initially, but with a slightly leaner silhouette it looks gorgeous.

I wanted to do something really awesome for my Mom this year, because I always try so hard to do something nice but it never works out so I’m making up for a few years of failed Mother’s Days. Two years ago I spent hours and hours and piles of money on this mushroom tortiere for a Mother’s Day brunch and it ended up tasting like cardboard. Last year I had all these plans to make her breakfast in bed but when I came down at 7am she’d been up and puttering around for 2 hours already. So this year I am going to treat my Mom like a queen! My theme is going to be relaxation, because she has a lot of stress at work (she deals with kids with disabilities and stubborn parents can be a pain when they’re in denial) and it doesn’t help that we drive her crazy every day. Relaxation it is.

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I’ve been watching all these gift basket making videos and I think I have a handle on what I’m going to do. My mom is very “green” these days so I want everything to be usable (so no plastic wrapping or paper filling) and most of what goes in will be homemade. Instead of a basket, I’m going to buy a nice ceramic or wooden box at Ikea that she can use later to display some candles or a centerpiece or something. In order to pad it out (so my gifts won’t fall to the bottom out of sight), I think I might pick up a $5 blanket or towel there as well. Here’s what I’m going to put in my “basket”.

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This super pig reminds me of the blue flash from Danger Mouse. Here’s the tutorial!

I’ve been really into embroidery and cross-stitch recently. Not so much the making (no time!) as the blogpreciating.

Kimberly at Chez Sucre Chez is a powerful cross-stitcher. I love this photo of some recent inventory; the antiquated patterns are so beautiful. Her royal inspiration is really brilliant. And she has a radiator just like mine!

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These skull slippers are awesome. Via Not An Artist.